President Ma Ying-jeou has appointed former Vice President Vincent Siew as Taiwan’s APEC envoy on his behalf. That’s the word from Presidential Office Spokesperson Charles Chen on Wednesday.
This year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is scheduled to be held in November in the Philippines.
Siew was appointed because of his familiarity with international business, diplomacy and multilateral trade talks. Siew has attended the APEC summit six times either as economics minister or on behalf of Taiwan’s presidents.
As regional economic integration is high on the agenda during this year’s event, it is expected that Siew will help forge more favorable conditions for Taiwan.
Taiwan is hoping to join the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Siew is currently the convener of an alliance for Taiwan’s bid to participate in the two regional trade bodies.